Keep up to date with today's breaking news and opinion on our Boro live blog which brings you breaking transfer news, as well as views, opinion and a whole lot more about Middlesbrough FC .

Our daily weekday coverage includes photos, nostalgia, interviews, surveys and the best of Boro social media.

We'll be here from 10.15am until 4.30pm; give us your thoughts by tweeting via our #BoroLive hashtag, at @GazetteBoro or find us on Facebook .

On today's blog, Bernie Slaven provides his thoughts on what he's seen from Boro's strikers so far.

We also check in on the players who are out on loan elsewhere. And there's more praise for Boro forward Harry Chapman, currently on loan at Blackburn Rovers. And we look at what's going on elsewhere in the division.

Join Dominic Shaw and Jonathon Taylor for Boro updates throughout the day.

Brentford boss talks ahead of Boro trip

Who knew Dean Smith & Garry Monk were former teammates at Sheffield Wednesday back in the day?!

Here’s what the Brentford boss has been saying in today’s press conference:

“Middlesbrough got a very strong squad and they’re one of the favourites to gain promotion to the Premier League.

“I think Garry (Monk) did a fantastic job at Swansea City and at Leeds United last season as well. He’s a former team-mate of mine and we’re looking forward to going up there for a tough game.

“One defeat in six gives puts us in a good position to hopefully go up there and get a result”.

Brentford boss Dean Smith

16:00Jonathon Taylor

Sure he'll get a good Riverside reception...

He spent a loan spell at Boro in 2012/13, of course.

He actually won the fans’ Player of the Year that season.

15:41Jonathon Taylor

Grayson pleads for patience at Sunderland

It’s been a shocker of a week for Sunderland, and Tuesday’s 5-2 capitulation at Ipswich was described by one local journalist as the “worst defensive performance he’d seen in 15 years’.

Spare a thought for Simon Grayson then, as he prepares to take his Black Cats back to former team Preston, who are flying high in the top six.

The vultures appear to be circling above the Stadium of Light again, but Grayson has pleaded for time.

“Since I’ve been at the club, I’ve tried to stress that we want to get promotion but we’ve not spent the money that other clubs have, but also we’ve not got a God-given right to it,” he told Sky Bet.

“We’ve got to have a sense that it’s a work in progress, I don’t really like using that word too much, but it is because of the turnaround of players that have gone out the club and everybody knows there isn’t the finances available because of what happens.

Sunderland manager Simon Grayson

“There is a hangover from the Premiership days, no doubt, but what we wanted to do is try and create some positivity, get the players playing for the shirt and get an affiliation back with the supporters and that won’t happen overnight.

“You need to get the team to gel and working like you want it to work, because it took me two or three years to do that at Preston, you have to build slowly, you have to build window to window and be given time to allow that to happen.”

15:15Jonathon Taylor

Of course it was!

Drum roll...

14:36Jonathon Taylor

Name the Boro players!

There’s 4 Boro players merged together in this lovely image.

Can you guess all of them?

14:24Jonathon Taylor

Paddy & the guitar

My mind immediately turned to an episode of The Office when watching this.‘Free love on the freelove freeway’!

Anyhow, it looks like the spirit within the Boro squad is still as strong and upbeat as ever - good to see.

14:12Jonathon Taylor

We wondered where he was!

Spitting dabs, Viktor!

In other Viktor Fischer news, he’s just been recalled to the Denmark squad. So there you go - a man of many talents.

14:08Jonathon Taylor

Former Boro boy on the mark in the MLS

Seb Hines is still going strong out there in the States!

He was on target for Orlando City last night - playing in the same side as Brazilian star Kaka - in a crushing 6-1 victory over New England Revolution.

Seb Hines

14:01Jonathon Taylor

The England squad has been announced

FABIAN DELPH.

Sorry, had caps lock on. FABIAN DELPH. That’s due to my amazement.

Obviously there’s no Ben Gibson in the England squad. The headline news is that Jamie Vardy has been overlooked too. If you’re interested, it’s below.

13:59Jonathon Taylor

Potential TV rights change and how it could impact Boro in future

Something is rumbling - and a Premier League squabble is set to come to a head sometime soon as clubs debate the distribution of the overseas TV money.

Same again for Boro

Some early team news from Rockliffe too, and it’s as you were for Boro against Brentford.

The only absentee is Rudy Gestede (thigh), who remains on the sidelines as a result of that freak training ground injury.

Rudy Gestede in action against Preston

But elsewhere, Garry Monk has the same players at his disposal - and Daniel Ayala, Adam Forshaw and Stewart Downing will all be hoping for recalls.

And given the below-par display, you’d have to think the like of Ryan Shotton, Grant Leadbitter, Martin Braithwaite and Patrick Bamford are all in with a chance of starting.

13:44Jonathon Taylor

A blow for Brentford ahead of Saturday

The Bees head to the Riverside in what is looking like a vital game for both sides - especially given the goings-on of this week.

Boro’s 1-0 defeat to Norwich has raised the importance of ending on a positive note ahead of the international break, while Brentford’s position above the relegation zone looks precarious - ahead of Birmingham on goal difference.

Brentford,

Well they will be without centre-back Andreas Bjelland (hamstring) for the game at the Riverside. He’ll be assessed at the eleventh hour, but John Egan (concussion) should return.

As for ex-Boro players in the ranks, Josh McEachran has been mainly on the bench in recent weeks.

13:37Jonathon Taylor

A shock departure over in Germany

Wow! New frontrunner for the Birmingham job?

Nah, just kidding.

13:10Jonathon Taylor

Dael Fry keeps his England U21 place

Great news for Boro’s 20-year-old centre-back.

He’s nailed down a starting place in the XI this season - and has just been named in the England U21s side to face Scotland and Andorra.

Dael Fry (Image: CameraSport)

For Fry, it’ll be an international homecoming with England’s Young Lions facing Scotland at the Riverside next Friday evening.

Congratulations, Daelo!

12:50Jonathon Taylor

Dissecting Boro's 'slow-starters' tag & Monk's biggest concern

A lot has been said about Boro being ‘slow-starters’ this season - so do the stats back that up?

Well not in terms of ‘goals scored’ in the first 20 minutes of games. Boro look OK on that front, safely tucked away in the middle of the pack.

“ Being ‘hard to beat’ looks to be an element of Monk’s utopia, but not the primary objective. Instead, he wants Boro to play football the right way, a possession-based game which eventually breaks down an opponent through attrition.

“If they do that right, the outcome will inevitably be the three points.

“That style - a more patient approach being drip-fed from the top - may be one of the reasons why Boro seem to start slowly.

“Given Boro have scored four goals after the 70th minute in matches this season, Monk may well feel that patient approach is paying off.

“But critics will claim Boro have more chance of catching a side on the hop and scoring a goal at the beginning of matches, rather than towards the end when opposition teams are entrenched in their defensive position and growing in their belief of nicking a result.

“It’s probably somewhere in the middle; patience is a virtue, but Boro can’t be overly-complacent.”

Last season, 160 supporters were found to be using a Season Card or ticket in a price band that did not apply to them. On each occasion, they entered the stadium, or tried to enter it, without any attempt to upgrade the Season Card or ticket. Each person received a suspension covering the period of three home first team fixtures, while one individual was in contravention of their ticket band twice, and is now banned from the Riverside for a full season.

This season, we discovered 23 supporters committing the same offence within the first three home league matches. The period of suspension has now been increased so all 23 will serve suspensions covering six home fixtures. During the suspension, they will also not be able to buy tickets for away matches.

The Riverside Stadium (Image: Getty Images)

12:03Dominic Shaw

Rockliffe intruders!

11:40Dominic Shaw

Mogga talks Chapman

You might - or might not - have read the bit we did on Harry Chapman yesterday, talking about the impact he’s had at Blackburn so far and how his loan spell at Ewood is panning out.

Well now Mogga has been talking about the Boro man and what he’s made of his impact so far.

“He’s a young boy who’s learning the game.

“Everyone likes Harry, he’s a fantastic kid, he’s living away from home at a young, delicate age.

“He’s great to watch on the training pitch, he’s a bit grumpy sometimes, but he’s showed his talent and quality and when we need something to happen on the pitch he’s usually the first guy I look at and there’s some pretty big names sitting behind me on that bench.”

Shoot on sight? Not necessarily the case for Brentford

Brentford had plenty of the ball against Derby on Tuesday night but only managed two shots on target.

According to GetWestLondon reporter Tom Moore, “there were moments in the second half when fans were crying out for a shot and frustration crept in when they passed the ball looking for better opportunities”.

Midfielder Romaine Sawyers accepts Boro’s next opponents do sometimes reject the chance to shoot on sight, but doesn’t believe it’s a bad thing.

“I think sometimes we do turn down shooting opportunities. We trust each other to make the right decision.

“Sometimes it may look like we can shoot but we feel to play and so forth (will work better).

“We keep playing our way and we’re patient and we want opportunities to come. We’ve got to keep believing.”

Brentford's Romaine Sawyers

10:51Dominic Shaw

Karanka to Birmingham?

It’s an ex-Boro heavy shortlist for the Birmingham job, according to the bookies.

SkyBet make Aitor Karanka 5/4 favourite for the gig at St Andrew’s ahead of Steve McClaren at 9/2.

Reports emerged yesterday claiming Birmingham are “closing in on a deal” to make Karanka their new boss.

The Sun say he’s due for talks this weekend and will watch the side in action against Hull on Saturday.

That game comes on the back of a 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday last night, a result which meant the Blues have picked up four points out of six under Lee Carsley, who took charge following the departure of Harry Redknapp.

Carsley, though, isn’t interested in the job.

“My stance has been clear all along, this club needs a manager with experience, that’s used to winning, that used to setting up teams that need to get promoted and dealing with the expectation of a club that’s striving to get into the Premier League,” he told the Birmingham Mail.

“I am happy playing my part in the background, working with the 23s, working with the academy and obviously England.

“It’s not for me. I made it clear a week-and-a-half ago if we won three games or lost three games my ambitions and plans wouldn’t change.

“I still think I have a lot of developing to do as a coach, I don’t think this is a first time manager’s job.”

Karanka has also been linked with the Las Palmas job after the boss of the Spanish club walked out at the weekend.

Aitor Karanka (Image: PA)

10:43Dominic Shaw

Norwich keeper in team of week

Praise for Angus Gunn, who kept Boro out on Tuesday night.

The keeper made six saves, according to Opta.

A few of those were quite routine but his stop to deny Lewis Baker’s free-kick late on was very impressive.

10:37Dominic Shaw

How next opponents fared in midweek

10:34Dominic Shaw

Strengths & weaknesses of next opponents

Next up for Boro, Brentford.

They head for the Riverside having only won once this season - which came at bottom club Bolton - and on the back of a 1-1 draw with Derby in midweek.

The Rams led for long stages at Griffin Park before a late home equaliser.

Derby boss Gary Rowett gave some interesting insight into Boro’s next opponents after the game:

“Brentford don’t play up against you, they play in pockets and make it difficult for you to get out. We showed a lack of composure at times.

“I’m a bit surprised as they’re difficult to face at Griffin Park and away from home. It’s difficult to stop them playing.

“If you press them high you leave spaces in behind you. We didn’t have the athleticism to do it for longer periods.

“For Brentford’s it’s turning possession into goals and it looked as though we’d limit that tonight but they’re a good side.”

Derby County manager Gary Rowett

10:21Dominic Shaw

Barnsley ticket reminder

Class away game, Barnsley.

A full stand to fill.

Remember when Mido was at Barnsley and he had to make his way to and from that tunnel in the corner in front of the travelling Boro fans?

10:19Dominic Shaw

What a Rovers reporter is saying about Chapman

If you missed it yesterday, we caught up with Blackburn reporter Rich Sharpe after Chapman got off the mark with his first goal for the club on Tuesday night.

“He’s the talk of the town!”, said Sharpe.

“So far this season he’s had to be patient and has come off the bench in seven of the nine league games. He’s the man who Mowbray turns to when they’re looking to get back into a game or if they’re 1-0 up and looking to see it out and to hit teams on the break. And more often than not when he’s come off the bench he’s done the business.

“The fans love him! Against Rotherham on Tuesday he came off the bench and immediately got on the ball, beat three men and won a corner.

“Blackburn have had some quality wingers over the years and the fans here like that sort of player, somebody who can get the ball, run at the defence with pace and beat a man. And that’s exactly what Chapman has done.